6 Answers

I was in the original Barbi clan back in the 60’s. That’s a shame…I guess these Modern plastic Barbis wouldn’t hold up under “Whitewater Barbi” conditions. Yep, I was the originator of White Water Barbi, used to send them off down the rapids with a string around their 17 inch waists. lol

My daughter who is now 24 had lots of vintage Barbi stuff, including the Barbi brothel. An inside joke about some of the vintage bedroom set ups.

One of the reasons store bought Barbies are getting more cheaply made, is that the average age of the kid who plays with them has dramatically dropped over the years. Kids used to play with Barbies as a doll toy up to about age 9 or 10. Now those same girls prefer the American Girls 18 inch dolls. Now the average playing age for Barbies is between 3 – 5.

If you’ve seen the average 3 year old play with a Barbie, you’d know why people would want them cheaper and not spend much time making them very durable. They get matted hair, weird dirty bits and the girls lose their clothes and don’t really care if they are naked. Why make them durable when you’re likely going to have to toss them out from ickiness in a year or two.

You can buy really nice barbies on the website. Those are for adults who play with them as they were originally intended—a little fashion model that you take excellent care of.